Nanna Skodborg Merrald is starting her own business

As Nanna Skodborg Merrald has announced, she is returning to the farm where she grew up, “Lykkesholm.” This is where she plans to launch her own company, “Merrald Dressage.”

She probably doesn’t need to worry about a lack of interest. Nanna Merrald has long been one of the country’s most prominent dressage riders. This success began even before her time at Blue Hors, when she rode Millibar by Milan—a horse she had trained herself—to two silver and one bronze medals with the team at three European Junior Championships, and also became the European Junior Champion in the freestyle. Incidentally, even back then she was riding side by side with Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on Cassidy, who later competed with Laudrup-Dufour at the Olympic Games. Nanna and Millibar didn’t quite make it that far, but they did enjoy international Grand Prix successes.

The Blue Hors Era

In 2018, the 32-year-old molecular biologist joined the Blue Hors stud farm as a rider, where Daniel Bachmann Andersen was still the lead rider at the time. When he left the facility in Randbøl, Nanna Merrald took his place and had the opportunity to present stars such as Zack, Orthilia, and, above all, Zepter at championships.

With Zack, Merrald won the 2022 World Team Championship, among other titles. The year before, they were part of the Olympic team in Tokyo. Riding Zack’s son Zepter—who had previously been ridden with moderate success by Patrik Kittel—she won, among other achievements, the individual silver medal in the Grand Prix Special at the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, finishing ahead of world champions Lottie Fry and Glamourdale. In addition, the pair were part of the Danish silver-medal-winning team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that the Blue Hors stud farm had parted ways with Merrald. Her former colleague, Sophia Ludvigsen, now holds the position of head rider there.